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Update Diary: Hell/Dolls Update 12/31/24

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Good day to all!

Today, I’d like to provide a short update on my Hell/Dolls story, as it stands right now (though, truth be told, I started this article on the 23rd).

As it stands, here are the statistics I have:

Current Chapter: 8 (Talks and Whispers – tentative name)

Pages: 89

Total Word Count: 41,110

So, something some of you may have noticed is that the word count hasn’t gone up much despite entering a new chapter (the last update had 37,185 words, so barely over 4,000 words since the last update).  Part of this is that I went back some days and reconfigured some wording and events, but the other part of this is that I haven’t been able to work on this story as much as I would have liked.  Between a surprise guest in our household and holiday hours at work, the most I’ve been able to do is finish this chapter (a little abruptly), start the new chapter, and review what I’ve written and edit the errors out.

All in all, this is a short update telling you that I have indeed been working on the story despite my personal life.  I have been able to do some work on my reviews during the weekends, but my story has suffered a little due to this.

Update (12/30/24): So, this WAS supposed to come out this morning, but I forgot.  Instead, I’m sscheduling it for the ACTUAL end-of-the-year post.

I did want to address the decision I made regarding the novel’s release – I have decided to release the first four chapters (as well as the prelude) once I reach chapter 10, on FictionPress as I normally do.  My train of thought is that by the time I get to Chapter 10, the wording for the story should be finalized, or at the very least need miniscule changes.  I will also probably do an audio recording at some point, both for myself and for the readers.

What this basically means for the novelization is that it probably won’t be available on hardcopy, unfortunately – I think that releasing the story for free gives more access to people who want to read it, and it gives me less of a headache trying to find a publisher, dealing with fees, and other problems that come with publishing full-on books.

On the plus side, this means that once I feel a chapter is done, it will be available to read (and record).  I won’t (or, will try not to) edit any posted chapters, and I’ll probably start a ko-fi or pull up my Patreon for anyone who wants to support me monetarily.  Both links will come soon.

For now, keep an eye out for the first few releases!  I hope to have them ready by mid-2025.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

-Marcosias the Isif

A Gentle Update

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Good morrow, my fellow readers and watchers!

I just wanted to provide an update on some stuff going on in my life – both to clarify future posts on the blog and to give myself a to-do list.

Firstly, I haven’t forgotten about Kizumonogatari.  I have the review started, but I need to rewatch it while writing, which for a subbed anime with lots (and I mean LOTS) of text notes and Japanese-language jokes, is not easy.  I am taking my time writing this one because I truly love the Monogatari Series, and I want to give unbiased, fair, and clear commentary on these movies.  If I haven’t already said, I’ll be doing separate reviews for each of the three movies to fully hit home what I think of them.

Secondly, the Hell/Dolls story updates.  I do still want to do regular progress updates on this story, but with how infrequently I write, and how varied my writing sessions end up, I realize that every month on the 15th probably won’t work.  I do still want to update y’all every month, but just know that I probably won’t be able to do it at consistent times every month.  It will most likely be on the back end of each month, as I generally maintain better writing schedules in the middle of the month due to work.

Thirdly, random reviews and other anime and game reviews are still planned (I’ve got a few in the pipeline now), and I will still post at least one anime review each month, not including the Monogatari Series ones.  The quick reviews segment I did in the last period I was posting could make a comeback if there’s enough demand, and I happen to have the time to watch a few episodes of a lot of anime, which could definitely happen when things slow down.  Game reviews, unfortunately, will be on the back burner for the foreseeable future, as I generally don’t have the time or money for new games… though I do have an extensive Steam backlog that I could review, given some free time.  We’ll see.

Lastly, I just want to note that I will try my damndest to give my readers updates on anything I can: if there’re more reviews than usual planned, life events that prevent me from uploading, or sudden desires to update my older stories (like Touhou, which is somehow still getting new readers despite not being updated since 2018).  Y’all are my go-to updates over Facebook and Twitter (currently X), and I want you to know that I respect that, since some of you have been with me since high school.

Thanks for listening, I promise a new review will drop soon (probably not Kizumono, but something).

Happy Holidays!

-Marcosias

Update Diary: Hell/Dolls (11/20/2024)

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Hello, everyone!

I decided that my first progress post should be dedicated to a project that’s been about 8 years in the making: Hell/Dolls.  This story is one I’ve held close to my chest, in part because I made the characters and world during high school, and I’ve been able to repolish the plot enough to build a coherent story.

Current Chapter: 7 (plus a prelude)

Pages: 80

Total Word Count: 37,185

In all honesty, the title should probably be reworked, but I’m both stubborn and lazy – too much to change it until the first story is done.

Here is a basic synopsis of the story:

Hell/Dolls takes place in the world of Kiria, a magic land ravaged by malevolent creatures called Baael.  In this story, Vincent Laverse is a former insurgent from a corrupt (and fake) military, and struggles to find a place of his own.  He learns of a missive that allows him to lead a group looking to protect the citizens of a city-state, and gains knowledge and skills alongside his new team.

I’ve been working on this particular iteration of the story for just under a year, though much of what is covered in this story is prequel to the original material I had created back in high school.  It is coming together slowly, but I think with the newly-designed parts and the corrections from my original ideas, this story is coming out just as I want it to.  I tend to listen to it as a Read-Aloud to catch grammatical mistakes that Word misses (yes, I know there are programs and apps out there to do this, but I still prefer Word).

A few more points I want to address, partly because this is my first big post in a looong time, and partly because I feel so passionate about this project.

First: Why is it called “Hell/Dolls”?  And why the slash?

The name Hell/Dolls actually came from a point late in the story, where a character calls his creations based off of the antagonistic creatures “The Hell Dolls” (the creatures in question are Baael; magic and ethereal beings that cause destruction).  This early in the story, however, the name is just a placeholder until that scene comes up… which probably won’t be for a while.  Regarding the slash between the two words, anyone who’s read my blog knows I love anime and manga; one common way of separating words in titles is a slash (another is an x).  In short, these naming points are just because it felt cool when I was younger, and I still really like the name.

Second: Are the chapters going to be available like Touhou, or is it going to be released all at once?

At the current time, I am still debating releasing the chapters for free, though I would like to at least release the first few to get readers engaged with the story.  Ideally, I want to release this story as a real novel when it’s completed, but I realize that a no-name artist popping up from the middle of the arctic desert probably won’t get much traction.  For now, I would like to release the first two chapters (including the prelude) for free when I feel comfortable with where they are.  More than likely, I’ll either drop them on FictionPress or another site… but again, I’m undecided for now.

Third: How long will it take to complete the current “book”?

Because I don’t have a set schedule for writing (I’m currently doing it in my free time, between work, joy-giving experiences, and family), there is no set period for when the book, or even the current chapter, will be done.  As of this moment, each chapter is running about 13 pages, and I usually do about half a page per session (sometimes up to 3 pages, sometimes as little as a single line).  This is not my ideal, and is probably not sustainable, but it is how I tend to work on bigger projects.  With the given pace I’ve been working at, including reviewing and extended breaks, I think I may be done with the first book’s main draft by this time next year – but don’t hold me to that.

Fourth: Will you be updating the progress like this every week / month / year?

I will probably focus on a monthly or half-month check-in on the progress, depending on how much I get done.  The updates probably won’t be as detailed or long-winded as this one, but I will do my best to keep to a schedule.  I would actually like to do an update every month on the 15th, but as I said earlier, my schedule for writing is sporadic at current.

If people start commenting on the blog with questions about the story, I may start doing an *actual* Q&A in these posts.  Until then, please expect regular updates on my progress.

That’s all for now,

Marcosias A. Isif

Returning Once More

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Holy moly, it’s been a while.

I think the last time I updated this thing was (checks watch) 2017!  Wow, seven years really flies by when you’re having fun.

So, to be brief, I’d like to tell you what’s been going on (bear with me, there’s quite a bit):

For starters, I’ve got a full-time job that I love.  Working with both my coworkers and vendors is an enjoyable experience, and the work itself is something that my unfocused brain can easily grasp, organize, and process.  I’ve even written some documents outlining my job’s ins and outs for the company’s position (not officially, but my superiors are actually sharing it around to help new people).

I’ve also been writing A LOT.  In addition to my To Aru universe fanfiction and that old Albel Academy story (both of which I haven’t updated recently), I have a Touhou universe fanfiction that is up to seven chapters, as well as two original stories that I have been excitedly working on for the past year.  The main one I’ve been focused on is at seven chapters as well, though I plan to release the chapters over a few weeks once it’s done.

In addition to writing stories, I have been thoroughly revamping some of my tabletop games; two in particular I have grown quite attached to, in part because they are somewhat related to the stories.  I’ve gotten most of the mechanics figured out, but there’s still a lot of work to do before they are playable in any capacity.  With how much I’ve been working on these, I’m a little surprised I haven’t burned out yet (knock on wood).

Other than those endeavors, I’ve been slowly catching up on my backlog of anime and manga, though my game backlog is still pretty much untouched.  I was finally able to play Payday 2 with a friend, though, so I see that as a major plus!

I still plan on posting reviews here – both the quick season posts and the in-depth reviews, especially the Kizumonogatari one I promised all of those years ago.  By the way, can you believe we’ve gotten Off Season and Monster Season in anime format?!

To summarize my intentions going forward, I think I’d like to start updating this blog again at a gentle pace, maybe like two to four posts a month.  Now that I have a pretty set schedule for my work, friends, family, and hobbies, I think I can be more consistent in updating this.  I’m probably going to do a review post (probably on Kaiju No 8 or Kizu) and a progress post on the favorite story I’m working on, where I’ll follow in the footsteps of the brilliant writer L.G. Estrella and give you more detailed info on it, such as word count, chapters, and maybe even sneak peeks.

Because I now pay for all of my streaming services, I will be getting most of my anime review material from Crunchyroll or HiDive releases, but there is always a new series dropping on other services, so I’ll try to stay diligent.  I’m also watching series on a regular basis again, so I may be able to give more variety than just SoL and Yuri.

I’m excited to come back here, so hopefully you’ll be happy to join me on this restarted journey!

Tadaima,

Marcosias A. Isif